Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-26
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Items of Discovery and Invention the World
Over.

Over.
A simple and easily applied test for wall
papers has been devised by Mr.. F. F.
Grensted. No apparatus is needed be-
| Yond an ordinary gas jet, which IS turned
down to quite pin-point, until the
| flame Be wholly blue. When this has
been done q strip of the paper suspected
| to contain arsenic is cut one-siXteenth of
an inch wide and an inch or two long
Directly the edge of this paper is brought
into contact with the outer edge Of the
gas flame q gray celebration due to arsenic,
! will be seen in the fame test No. y.
! The PAGER is burnej 8 little and the fumes
| that are given of will be found to have a
| strong gariC-libe OdOr, due to the yapCr
| OF arsenic acid test No. p. Take the
paper sway from the flames and look at
the charred end-.he carbon will be col
ored q bronze red this is copper reduced
| by the carbon (test No. 81. Being now
away from the flame in a fine state Of
| division, the copper is slightly OXidiZad
| By the air, and on placing the Charred
end a second tine not too far into the
! fame, the flame will now be colOred green
| by copper (test No. = By This simple
means it is possible to form an opinion,
| without apparatus and without leaving
! the room, as to whether any wall paper
contains arsenic, for copper arseniate is
commonly used in preparing wall papers.
| Tests one and two would be yielded by
any paper containing arsenic in consider
able quantities.
There is as much danger of hurting the
| brain by idlcn IS SIS by 0vervcrk. Ac-
COrding to q writer in Faith and Work,
| DR.. FaTqubarson argues that intellectual
power is lessered by the IistIessness in
which the wel--tC do classes generally
| spend their lives. Under such conditions
the brain gradually loses its health, and,
| although equal TO the demands of rou-
| tine existence, is unable to withstand the
strain of sudden emergency. So, when a
load of work is unexpectedly thrown on it
in its unprepared state, the worst Conse-
quences Of what may be called oVerWork
show themselves. Similarly q man &C
Custcmed to sedentery pursuits is liable
to be physically injured by taking sud-
denly too violent exercise. DR.. Farquhar-
son further says that so long as brain
worker can sleep well, eat well, and take
q fair proportion of outdoor exercise he
is safe to keep on. When any of these
conditions fail it is time TO cry halt.
The pitas plant of Honduras invites the
enterprise of American capital and Yankee
invention. Mr.. Burchard, our Consul,
reports that this pltas plant, which has
never been cultivated, grows spOntane-
Ously and in apparently ineXhaustible
quantities by the margin of every river
and lagoon, and, indeed, anywhere below
the altitude of 1000 feet. 1t can be had
for the cost of cutting. The iOer is sus
Ceptible of q thousand uses. The people
of Honduras convert it into thread for
sewing boots and shoes, and into nets,
fish lines and cordage. The finest ham
mocks and most costly are also made of
it. The small quantities which have been
sent to this market have been manufaC-
tured into hsndkerChiefs, lsCes, ribbons,
false hair and wigs. The difficulty is 10
deCorticate the plant without rotting or
otherwise injuring the G1ber.
DR.. II. NJ. Leskerstein of Chicago, re.
ports the remarkable effects of nitro
glycerine in resuscitating life. His
patient was woman, who sank rapidly
and was apparently dead. Any action of
the heart was imperceptible, the tempera-
ture OF the body had fallen TO ninety-two
degrees +, and every indication Of death
was present. A solution of nitro gly-
cerine was administered hypodermicslly, |
Wien IueIe WAS q gasp, IoIIOWtu DY LQI6e |
others within q minute. During the Sec !
ond minute six respirations were noted, !
with faint lutterlng of the heart, but 10 |
Wrist-pulse was discernlble. During the |
third minute eighteen respiratiOns were |
evident and feeble pulse. During the /
fourth minute the pulse rose 10 $50 and |
above, the face was flushed, the eyes
rolled, and muscles slowly relaxed and !
the patient became comfortable.
Relative to making a perfect weld Of /
steel without fire or borsx, 8 blacksmith .
writes: "a job came to my shop few
days ago in the shape of two pieces OF |
three-quarter inch round steel, welded to-
gether end to end. a taper plug OF steel /.
was in one end of shaft on which d corn |
burr was running. The plug OF steel WAS
bearing against q like piece of steel in the .
frame, the object OF this being to tighten .
the burrs. Owing to loose box on the |
shaft, the shaft got to jumping, giving a |
side motion and creating friction enough J
to weld the two pieces of steel together |
as stated. The two pieces of steel were |
hardened. y Manufacturers Gazette.
The Boston Journal Of Commerce gives |
the following for clear Shellac solution; |